Mediastinitis is a serious infection involving mediastinal spaces after cervical infections spread along the facial planes. A late diagnosis of mediastinitis may result in death. Here we present a diabetic patient suffered from mediastinit accompanied with hyperosmolar nonketotic coma. A 61 years old male patient with type 2 diabetes was admitted to our hospital, with complaint of generalized worsening and fever. A diagnosis of nonketotic hyperosmolar coma was done and proper treatment started immediately. Neck tomography revealed abscess formation in the upper mediastinum...

Intracranial pressure (ICP) monitoring frequently guides key decisions in the management of diseases causing intracranial hypertension. Although typically measured by invasive means, contraindications may leave the clinician with little recourse for dynamic ICP evaluation-particularly when the patient's mental status is compromised. We describe here a healthy 18-year-old woman who subacutely progressed to coma due to diffuse cerebral venous sinus thrombosis. Heparinization precluded the use of invasive ICP monitoring, and electroencephalography (EEG) was used novelly as a surrogate ICP monitor...

OBJECTIVE: To examine the use of intracranial pressure monitors and treatment for elevated intracranial pressure in children 24 months old or younger with traumatic brain injury in North Carolina between April 2009 and March 2012 and compare this with a similar cohort recruited 2000-2001. DESIGN: Prospective, observational cohort study. SETTING: Twelve PICUs in North Carolina. PATIENTS: All children 24 months old or younger with traumatic brain injury, admitted to an included PICU...

BACKGROUND: Intracranial pressure monitoring (ICP) is considered as optional for management of severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) in children. AIMS: This study was performed to determine whether ICP monitoring is beneficial in the managing severe TBI in children. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: Neurosurgical intensive care unit (ICU) of a tertiary care referral center; prospective observational study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Children aged 16 years or less with severe TBI defined as "postresuscitation Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score of 8 or less admitted to an ICU" were enrolled...

OBJECTIVES: The objectives of the study are to describe the use of hyperosmolar therapy in pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI) and examine its effect on intracranial pressure (ICP) and cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP). DESIGN: A retrospective review of patients with severe TBI admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) was conducted. Inclusion criteria were ICP monitoring and administration of a hyperosmolar agent (20 % mannitol or 3 % hypertonic saline) within 48 h of PICU admission; for which dose and timing were recorded...

BACKGROUND: Canagliflozin is the first sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 (SGLT-2) inhibitor-a new class of oral antidiabetic (OAD) medication-approved for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) treatment in the United States. Approved less than 2 years ago, use of canagliflozin is largely uncharacterized. OBJECTIVE: To investigate and compare baseline demographic, clinical, and economic characteristics of patients initiating canagliflozin and dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors in the real-world setting...

BACKGROUND: Elevated intracranial pressure is one of the most common problems in patients with diverse intracranial disorders, leading to increased morbidity and mortality. Effective management for increased intracranial pressure is based mainly on surgical and medical techniques with hyperosmolar therapy as one of the core medical treatments. The study aimed to explore the effects of continuous micro-pump infusions of 3% hypertonic saline combined with furosemide on intracranial pressure control...

Worldwide, the proportion of people above 60 years old represents 15% of the whole population. Diabetes mellitus is more frequent in this age group, and is associated with increased risk of morbidities and premature mortality. Aged Muslim people with diabetes insist on fasting during Ramadan, for many reasons. Elderly people, especially frail patients, who fast are at increased risk for many complications such as hypoglycaemia, hyperglycaemia and metabolic decompensation including hyperosmolar coma, diabetic ketoacidosis, dehydration and thrombosis...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the control of blood glucose and glycosylated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) and its influencing factors, in elderly type 2 diabetic mellitus (T2DM) patients undergoing comprehensive management. After years of comprehensive prevention of and control measures for diabetes, elderly T2DM patients who were receiving long-term health care were comprehensively evaluated through an annual physical examination. In addition to routine health examination, the patients were required to undergo HbA1c measurement...

A man with past lithium use for more than 15 years, but off lithium for two years and not carrying the diagnosis of diabetes mellitus or nephrogenic diabetes insipidus (NDI), presented with coma and hyperglycemic hyperosmolar state (HHS). Following correction of HHS, he developed persistent hypernatremia accompanied by large volumes of urine with low osmolality and no response to desmopressin injections. Urine osmolality remained < 300 mOsm/kg after injection of vasopressin. Improvement in serum sodium concentration followed the intake of large volumes of water plus administration of amiloride and hydrochlorothiazide...

Disequilibrium syndrome (DS) is a central nervous system disorder described in hemodialysis (HD) patients. The authors present 4 cases of elevated blood urea nitrogen (BUN); the first patient passed away from suspected DS, whereas the other 3 patients were identified as having a high risk of developing DS on the basis of their BUN. The authors tried to lower their BUN slowly and prevent rapid correction by different methods. This is the first study in which DS has been studied in patients who are not on HD, and methods are described to identify and prevent DS in such patients...

We describe the protocolised use of 23.4% hypertonic saline solution (HTS) for intracranial hypertension in the context of traumatic brain injury in the paediatric population. This study represents the largest published data on the use of 23.4% HTS in the paediatric population. In this retrospective cohort, we focus on the efficacy, biochemical and metabolic consequences of 23.4% HTS administration in a Level 1 paediatric trauma centre. Mortality in the first seven days was 6% (2/32) with a mean intensive care unit length-of-stay of ten days (range 2 to 25, standard deviation [SD] 6)...

Osmotic demyelination syndrome (ODS) is a life-threatening demyelinating syndrome. The association of ODS with hyperosmolar hyperglycemic state (HHS) has been seldom reported. The aim of this study was to present and discuss previous cases and the pathophysiological mechanisms involved in ODS secondary to HHS. A 47-year-old man arrived to the emergency room due to generalized tonic-clonic seizures and altered mental status. The patient was lethargic and had a Glasgow coma scale of 11/15, muscle strength was 4/5 in both lower extremities, and deep tendon reflexes were diminished...